Alexs Pate

Minneapolis writer Alexs Pate is author of numerous fiction and poetry books, an analysis of hip-hop music, and a new memoir to be published in 2011. The forthcoming memoir explores, among other topics, a father's 'capacity to build bridges and make relationships whole again,' even when it can feel like an impossibility for him and so many other fathers.

Alexs Pate is the author of numerous books of fiction and poetry, as well as an analysis of hip-hop music. His debut novel, Losing Absalom, won a Minnesota Book Award and garnered him the honor of "Best First Novel" from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Pate's first memoir, The Past is Perfect: Memoir of a Father/Son Reunion (working title) will be published in 2011. Pate reads from the book and talks about the struggles of reconnecting with his estranged son and entering into the world of memoir writing. Minnesota Music in this Episode: Rene Ford Ellen Lease & Pat Moriarty Quartet More Info: University of Minnesota: African & American Studies: Alexs Pate PBS: Literature & Life: The Givens Collection - interview with Alexs Pate

Air Date 12/23/10